--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm not thinking much about overall…" description: "\"I'm not thinking much about overall themes or preoccupations or anything like that. Instead I'm just trusting that, if I'm working hard, various notion..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/george-saunders-317_book_i-m-not-thinking-much-about-overall-them_2653353.jpg" --- # I'm not thinking much about overall themes or… ![“I'm not thinking much about overall themes or preoccupations or anything like that. Instead I'm just trusting that, if I'm working hard, various notions and riffs and motifs and so on are very naturally suffusing the stories and the resulting book.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/george-saunders-317_book_i-m-not-thinking-much-about-overall-them_2653353.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/george-saunders-317_book_i-m-not-thinking-much-about-overall-them_2653353.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/george-saunders-317_book_i-m-not-thinking-much-about-overall-them_2653353.jpg) > “I'm not thinking much about overall themes or preoccupations or anything like that. Instead I'm just trusting that, if I'm working hard, various notions and riffs and motifs and so on are very naturally suffusing the stories and the resulting book.” [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author relies on hard work, trusting that themes and motifs will naturally emerge and permeate the narrative. **In simple terms:** Hard work lets ideas flow into the story. Key Takeaway Focus on effort; let ideas arise organically. Themes writing creativity process Mood thoughtful inspirational Type process creative When to use this quote - novel writing - daily practice - story crafting Key Concepts thematic development subconscious influence Questions to Reflect On - Do you notice recurring motifs in your work? - How does effort shape your creative output? A Different Perspective Ideas may not surface without deliberate reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Motifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motifs/) [Notion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion/) [Preoccupation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preoccupation/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Stories Resulting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-resulting-2368352/) [Suffusing Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffusing-stories-2368350/) [Theme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theme/) [Themes Preoccupations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/themes-preoccupations-1709311/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Overall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-overall-2368351/) [Trusting Working](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trusting-working-2368349/) [Various](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/various/) [Working hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-hard/) ## Related quotes > [One of my basic feelings is that the mind, and the heart alike, of the photographer must be dedicated to the glory, the magic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-john-laughlin/one-of-my-basic-feelings-is-that-the-mind-and-the-heart-alike-of-the/) [Clarence John Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-john-laughlin/) > [The way one sees is also dependent upon one's emotional state of mind. This is why a motif can be looked at in so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edvard-munch/the-way-one-sees-is-also-dependent-upon-one-s-emotional-state-of-mind/) [Edvard Munch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edvard-munch/) > [In religions which have lost their creative spark, the gods eventually become no more than poetic motifs or ornaments for decorating human solitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/in-religions-which-have-lost-their-creative-spark-the-gods-eventually/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Out, damned spot! out, I say!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/out-damned-spot-out-i-say/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [ We've tried to use some visual motifs \[in Beauty and the Beast\]. 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The search for the ideal has been the purpose of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-adolphe-bouguereau/for-me-a-work-of-art-must-be-an-elevated-interpretation-of-nature-the/) [William-Adolphe Bouguereau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-adolphe-bouguereau/) > [motif, n. You don’t love me as much as I love you. You don’t love me as much as I love you. You don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/motif-n-you-don-t-love-me-as-much-as-i-love-you-you-don-t-love-me-as/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [For the machine meant the conquest of horizontal space. It also meant a sense of that space which few people had experienced before –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hughes/for-the-machine-meant-the-conquest-of-horizontal-space-it-also-meant/) [Robert Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hughes/) > [Let me speak frankly: separate but equal is a fraud. It is the language that tried to push Rosa Parks to the back of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lammy/let-me-speak-frankly-separate-but-equal-is-a-fraud-it-is-the-language/) [David Lammy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lammy/) > [The possibility seems to be that what we call styles, or what we call motifs, are actually categories in the unconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-possibility-seems-to-be-that-what-we-call-styles-or-what-we-call/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The motif of death plays an important role the human psyche in connection with archetypal and karmic material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/the-motif-of-death-plays-an-important-role-the-human-psyche-in/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [Here on the edge of the river, the motifs are very plentiful, the same subject seen from a different angle gives a subject for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-cezanne/here-on-the-edge-of-the-river-the-motifs-are-very-plentiful-the-same/) [Paul Cezanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-cezanne/) > [There is no roles. No one is keeping any roles. The drummer is also answering everybody and everything. So it is a constant conversation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miroslav-vitous/there-is-no-roles-no-one-is-keeping-any-roles-the-drummer-is-also/) [Miroslav Vitous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miroslav-vitous/) ## More by George Saunders > [Success is like a mountain in front of you that keeps growing. If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/success-is-like-a-mountain-in-front-of-you-that-keeps-growing-if-you/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Wow wow wow is all I can say! Remember how I always buy lunchtime Scratch-Off ticket? Have I said? Maybe did not say? Well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/wow-wow-wow-is-all-i-can-say-remember-how-i-always-buy-lunchtime/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“None of it was real; nothing was real. 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Think about Frank Sinatra, he says: born to sing. Think about Willie Mays: born to play ball.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/a-clinton-staffer-tells-me-his-theory-think-about-frank-sinatra-he/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-try-we-fail-we-posture-we-aspire-we-pontificate-and-then-we-age/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. 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